NYC's Bleecker Bob's & Southpaw are closing down*

I met Lars Ulrich in there, the day after they were robbed by Jethro Tull at the Grammys! Good times...

 

Thanx, remember getting some great stuff there. Wish hit Village more often (only do city about 1x year). Glad to hear Generation is still there, will have to make a point of getting down there

 

You can't pay for that kind of fun, I love it!

 

Isn't there a place near John's Brick Oven Pizza called "Strider Records" or something like that? Any good?

JQ

 

It is, in fact, in the Brill Building. I've picked up a few interesting things there over the years.

I bought a turntable at Bleeker Bob's. A Garrard 401 already mounted in a heavy plinth with a Rega arm for $225. It was one of my all-time greatest hi-fi finds and it is still the record player I use every day.

 

Yup, Generation is still there, as is Bleecker Street Records. Kinda similar vibe at both places.

 

I lived at Union Square from 1988 to 1994 and Revolver Records was my weekly stop every Friday night. That was THE place to buy "grey market" CDs and LPs and fanzines. The staff, though, were pretty crappy. I literally stood at the counter one time, the only one in line, for like 10 minutes while the counter jockey was finishing up his personal phone call about his band's rehearsal. The minute he hung up, I threw the CD across the desk and walked out.

I think they got shut down by the feds a few times and always came back with a slightly altered name. "Revolver", "Revolution", "Revolving", etc.

It was always great fun walking up those ratty-carpeted steps to the second floor wondering what was in store for me that week.

 

who is running Generation Records today?
I believe Keith is in Florida presently?

 

Right-o, got a couple of nice Living Colour EPs at BSR last time was there, also some good CD imports at Gen...

 

I know things in New York are more expensive across the board but, really, $100 for common records in off grade condition? This Bleeker Bob's and Colony - are they the norm in New York or just extreme examples of ego and hubris run riot?

 

Pretty much par for the course...NYC is the worst place to buy records in my travels around the country. Very high prices, very picked over, and low condition standards in many outlets.

The three best cities imho are San Fran, Denver, and Atlanta. Good prices and good selection.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C7OpOg_zw4

 

x 100

 

Hey, I watched this clip and the jerks were Kramer and George, not the store clerk! All they were bringing him was crap (from a collectables standpoint).

 

What was once Golden Disc was within a short walk of Bleecker Bob's

"Bleecker Street Records"

 

NYC...it was primo from the 60's to the 80's...amazing variety and always a bargain or rarity to be found in many shops scattered across the Village...I was picking up mint promo albums for a buck a piece...great times back then.

 

This thread is making me laugh. Same exact thing for me. But that store around the corner (used to be there anyway), Subterranean, that was a great store. Is that still there?

 

I went there as a tourist and didn't spend a cent.

 

I wonder how much they're going to be closing out the Sergio Mendes and Jolson records for.

 

Sad but true. NYC has become so gentrified and boring that I rarely ever visit any more unless I really, really have to.

 

Bleecker Bob was disgusted with my wants list and sent me to Subterranean who had 75% of the stuff I wanted at about a third of the price that guy with all the stuff in the basement who sent records up pegged to a string had.

 

I remember wandering into Bleeker Bobs during a trip to New York and hearing Springsteen's unreleased Thundercrack in pristine studio sound for the first time. After I just stood there, mouth agape, and had listened to all of Fire In the Fingertips, I paid what was, at the time, an unheard of $40 for a copy of the red-covered boot. Sure its old news now, having mostly been released officially on Tracks, but, over the years, I've gotten 25 times that amount of pleasure from it.

 

That's too bad about Southpaw. It's a great little room and the staff is incredibly nice, but the club just never seemed to find their niche... which I think hurt them a lot once the Rock Shop and Bell House opened.

As for Bleeker Bob's... I suppose they were part of the fabric of the Village, but what a horrible store. Subterranean is sorely missed.

Anyone remember See/Hear? It was a rock & roll book shop, on St. Mark's in the late '90s and then over on 7th St. btwn 1st & 2nd (?) for a couple of years before shutting down. God, I loved that place. Rockit Scientist now occupies their old St. Mark's digs.

 

I stopped going to Bleecker Bob's a long time ago, just too overpriced.